LONNIE HOLLEY - OH ME OH MY

Released: 10/03/23

The heavy-hitting musicians that guest on Lonnie Holley’s phenomenal new album, Oh Me Oh My, is testament to the septuagenarian’s importance and influence on US art and experimental music. And while Michael Stipe, Sharon Van Etten, Moor Mother, Bon Iver, Tortoise’s Jeff Parker, and Rokia Koné all make significant contributions to the fabric of the LP, there is no doubt that the iconoclast Holley is the crucial galvanising force. It is not hyperbole when I say that Oh Me Oh My features some of the most sublime music of both his and his guests’ careers. At times heartrendingly beautiful, and at others intoxicatingly ferocious, Oh Me Oh My is less a performance of pain endured, and more a display of perseverance and relentless hope. As a celebrated visual artist, in May, Holley will receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Folk Art Museum – and if there were an equivalent prize for services to the sonic arts, it is hard to think of a musician more deserving.